Using the camera to control Black narratives

+ good reads for Black History Month ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Newly freed in a country with a legacy of hostility toward their kind, Black people in 19th-century America faced a barrage of attacks in the white press on their collective self-image. But with photography burgeoning, many Black Americans turned to portraiture and photography to present themselves in a more dignified light. Samantha Hill, a fellow at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, tells their story with illustrative examples from the library’s David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography.

Jamaal Abdul-Alim

Education Editor

Jubilee singers at Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee, pose for promotional photograph, circa 1871. William L. Clements Library

How Black people in the 19th century used photography as a tool for social change

Samantha Hill, University of Michigan

Cameras played a critical role in the quest for social equality for Black Americans in the post-slavery era.

Like the best myths, the tale of Igbo Landing and the flying African seems to transcend boundaries of time and space. Victor_Tongdee/iStock via Getty Images

How a mass suicide by slaves caused the legend of the flying African to take off

Thomas Hallock, University of South Florida

The myth has become a symbol of the traumatizing legacy of trans-Atlantic slavery. It also serves as a form of resistance and healing.

Members of the Black Panther Party outside the High Point property raided by police. Sonny Hedgecock/High Point Enterprise

Why a shootout between Black Panthers and law enforcement 50 years ago matters today

Paul Ringel, High Point University

In the early hours of Feb. 10, 1971, heavily armed officers moved in on a house occupied by Black Panther activists – marking a policing trajectory toward a more militarized response to Black activism.

Harriet Tubman: Biden revives plan to put a Black woman of faith on the $20 bill

Robert Gudmestad, Colorado State University

Although millions voted to put her face on the bill in an online poll, many still don't know the story of her life and the role faith played in it.
When Black kids – shut out from the whitewashed world of children’s literature – took matters into their own hands

Paige Gray, Savannah College of Art and Design

At the turn of the 20th century, with few children's books featuring Black characters, one young editor implored his peers to 'Let us make the world know that we are living.'
Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today’s pandemic

Nicole S Maskiell, University of South Carolina

US monuments and memorials have overlooked frontline workers and people of color affected by past epidemics. Will we repeat history?

Using the camera to control Black narratives

How Black people in the 19th century used photography as a tool for social change

How a mass suicide by slaves caused the legend of the flying African to take off

Why a shootout between Black Panthers and law enforcement 50 years ago matters today

Harriet Tubman: Biden revives plan to put a Black woman of faith on the $20 bill

When Black kids – shut out from the whitewashed world of children’s literature – took matters into their own hands

Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today’s pandemic

Older messages

How the Jewish holiday Purim became an American party

Why some Black Americans are vaccine hesitant

Price gouging is illegal ... but is it ethical?

Fixing America's vaccine scheduling mess

Uncle Sam may start sending parents monthly payments

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